Previews

Headhunter: Redemption

Redemption has something called an IRIS, which is about the closest thing I've seen to Samus' visor in Metroid Prime. You'll get all sorts of information through it, and it makes first-person viewing easy to access and worthwhile to use. Of course, this is just one of the many post-Apocalyptic toys Headhunters have at their disposal.

You know darn well that Sega would do something about Headhunter's graphics. In the PS2 port, they didn't look awful, but were definitely on the lower end of the quality spectrum. Now, much care was given to have Redemption's visuals stand out from the crowd. The work is evident in every screenshot, though it's still not top-of-the-line stuff. The textures and camera would need some improvements for that to happen. But, hey -- this is still a preview version, right?

The audio, in contrast, is not markedly improved. Voiceover work is very ho-hum, and may make it tough for gamers to really get into the story. Until publishers and developers realize that a good plot is useless without the talent to convey its importance, games won't get much mainstream acceptance as a storytelling medium. But I digress: the sound really isn't bad enough to justify a general rant.

Headhunter, as stated before, did a lot of cool things. It's good to see Jack Wade and his universe coming back, and there's more than enough to appease old fans and entice new players. It will be out before the holiday rush, which can only help its exposure. Redemption could easily be a title worth hunting down